Kane Kosugi

Kane Kosugi
Born Takeshi Kosugi
(1974-10-11) October 11, 1974
Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation Actor
Years active 1983—present
Parent(s) Sho Kosugi, Shook Kosugi
Website http://www.kanekosugi.com

Kane Kosugi (ケイン・コスギ Kein Kosugi), born Takeshi Kosugi (小杉 健 Kosugi Takeshi, born October 11, 1974 in Los Angeles, California), is an American martial artist and martial arts actor of direct Japanese and Chinese descent. He is the son of martial arts film star Sho Kosugi. In Japan, Kosugi is considered gaijin tarento (foreign talent) due to his Nisei (second generation foreign born) heritage.

Acting career

Since 1983, Kosugi has appeared in various roles as a voice actor for video games, stunt actor in movies, and character actor in both English-language and Japanese-language films. His first movie, Revenge of the Ninja, had him playing the son of his real life father, Sho Kosugi. Kane kept his real name in the movie. He has also been in other movies starring his father as well. With the intention of following in his father's footsteps, Kane trained to become a martial arts actor. Kane has an extensive martial arts background in wushu, ninjutsu, taekwondo, karate, judo and kendo.

He made his Japanese acting debut in the 1993 television series Ryūkyū no Kaze (Dragon Spirit), the 31st entry in NHK's long-running taiga drama series. Kane followed this up with his first lead role in the two-part Toei V-Cinema movies Za Kakuto Oh (The Fighting King) and Za Kakuto Oh 2 (The Fighting King 2) directed by his father. Next came the 1994 television series Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, an installment in Toei Company's Super Sentai franchise. Kane was the only American-born cast member of Kakuranger and his character (Jiraiya) spoke almost exclusively in English during his first few episodes.

He could be seen regularly on the NHK children's program Karada de Asobo (体で遊ぼ), which was a weekday exercise show that ran until March 2010. He also does commercial spots for vitamin drinks and regularly appears on a physical challenge show called Kinniku Oukoku (筋肉王国), formerly known as Kinniku Banzuke. He had a brief role as a Yakuza member in the action-thriller, War, with Jason Statham and Jet Li.

Kane then began to work in China and Hong Kong. He played Ryu Hayabusa, a master Ninja in the live action adaptation of the video game DOA: Dead or Alive, directed by Corey Yuen. He would play the lead villain in Coweb, the directorial debut of Xiong Xin-Xin and the lead role debut of Luxia Jiang. In 2011, he appeared alongside real-life best friend Sammy Hung and Sammy's father, Sammo Hung in Choy Lee Fut.

In 2013, Kane played the lead villain Nakamura in the film Ninja: Shadow of a Tear opposite Scott Adkins. The two reunited on the upcoming film Zero Tolerance. Kane would also play the character of Kazuya Mishima in the prequel Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge in 2014.

Sasuke

Kane competed on Kinniku Banzuke/Oukoku's special show Sasuke (known in America as Ninja Warrior) for several years (from 1997 - 2001). Thus far he is one of only three foreigners, and the only American, to make it to the Final Stage, out of 3,000 total competitors to date and twenty-four different Final Stage competitors. Despite his strong performances, #98 is the highest number he has ever worn.

He stopped participating after the 8th competition. Around the time of SASUKE 11, in an interview with the Kinniku Banzuke successor, Taiku Ookoku, he said, "私は訓練に時間があれば、私は競争したいと思います。", which roughly translates to, "If I have time to train, I would like to compete." Kane is still the only competitor to compete five times without failing the first stage. He was the first competitor to beat the Spider Climb in the final stage, doing so in Sasuke 8.

Here is a table of information of his participation in Sasuke.

Season # Competition Number Stage Obstacle
1 89 Third Failed Pole Bridge
4 97 Third Failed Cliff Hanger
6 98 Third Failed Body Prop
7 98 Second Failed Spider Walk
8 91 Final Failed Final Rope

Personal

Kane was born in Los Angeles, California as the eldest of three siblings. His parents are legendary Ninja film actor Sho Kosugi, who is Japanese; and Shook Kosugi, who is Chinese.[1] Kane has a brother, Shane (born 1976), who made occasional appearances on Kinniku Banzuke (known on G4 as Unbeatable Bansuke) as well as appear as Kane's younger brother in some of their father's ninja films in the 80's; and a sister, Ayeesha (born 1983), who is a golfer and senior at University of Las Vegas.[2] He was romantically involved with female golfer Riko Higashio, but broke up in 2005 when they seemed on the verge of marriage.[3] In December 2009, Kane married a woman from Hong Kong.[4]

Rift with father

Kosugi and his father are seemingly no longer on speaking terms due to Kane choosing a career in Japanese television instead of helping to run some of his schools under the banner of his institute, and even taking some of Sho's staff with him. In reference to Kane, Sho was reported as saying on a television show with fortuneteller Kazuko Hosoki in April 2007, "My son is a coward!" (息子は卑怯だ Musuko wa hikyō da), saying Kane "stabbed me in the back" and at one point made a reference to Judas Iscariot.[5] However, Sho was seen at Kane's wedding in late 2009, indicating that they are reconciling or already have.[6]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Interview with Kane Kosugi" Kung Fu Kingdom, 29 December 2013
  2. ↑ "UNLV Rebels - Women's Golf: Ayeesha Kosugi"
  3. ↑ "Junichi Ishida headed for marriage with golfer Higashio". Tokyograph.
  4. ↑ "Kane Kosugi ties the knot". Tokyograph.
  5. ↑ Sho Kosugi - "My son is a coward!", He Vents (Japanese)
  6. ↑ "Happy News to End the Year". Japan Zone.
  7. ↑ "Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge Blu-ray". blu-ray.com. Retrieved 2014-08-11.

External links

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